Chapter 51 – Utter Brutality

The echo of the first clash still rang in the air, like the toll of some ancient war drum. Where the Blackstone Abyss Hammer met Yu Cheng's Obsidian Scythe, the impact cracked the simulated floor in a jagged spiderweb that extended nearly ten meters in all directions. A static hush lingered in the aftermath, the silence pregnant with the promise of devastation.

Qiang Ming grinned.

Yu Cheng snarled, digging in his heels as the vibrations from the blow rattled up his arms.

They disengaged, sliding back several meters in opposite directions, only for Yu Cheng's two companions to flank him in perfect synchronicity.

The Rhino Spirit Master, a hulking brute with brass horns erupting from his temples, thundered forward on all fours, his Spirit Rings—two yellow and one white—glowing with brutish intensity. The other, the Serpent-Wire Soul Master, slithered through the air with uncanny speed, his hands trailing twin cords of jagged shadow serpents that snapped and hissed as if alive.

Qiang Ming took a single deep breath.

This was good.

Finally, someone was trying.

"Let's see what makes you three so confident," he muttered.

And then they clashed.

The Rhino Spirit Master was the first to reach him, body wreathed in a spiraling aura of spiritual power, aiming to gore Qiang Ming straight through with a frontal charge. Qiang Ming sidestepped the moment of impact, dropping low to avoid the wide horns, and slammed the edge of his hammer into the beast-boy's gut, knocking the wind out of him.

But before the Rhino could be knocked away completely, two shadowy serpents coiled around Qiang Ming's right arm, locking it in place.

From above, Yu Cheng descended in an arc of black and violet, his Scythe spinning to cleave Qiang Ming's head from his shoulders.

With his right arm restrained, Qiang Ming didn't attempt to block—he ducked low, taking the cut on his shoulder instead of the neck, blood spraying in a hot arc. He used the force of the motion to spin, his left fist smashing into the Rhino's face, knocking him back and disorienting the Serpent-Wire user through the shared tension.

Qiang Ming didn't hesitate. He flung his body into a roll, wrenching the snakes off with raw strength, ignoring the lacerations they left behind.

Yu Cheng's scythe grazed his ribs again—too fast, too precise—but Qiang Ming used the momentum of the attack to get close.

Then he summoned his Lich's Hands.

Two skeletal arms burst from his back, grappling Yu Cheng's scythe mid-swing and halting its path entirely. The sudden resistance caught Yu Cheng off guard.

"That—what the hell?!"

"Did you think I only had two limbs?" Qiang Ming hissed.

With a vicious roar, he sent a headbutt straight into Yu Cheng's nose, breaking cartilage and sending blood flying. Yu Cheng flinched, but the Lich's Hands didn't let him go—Qiang Ming reared back with his knee, aiming for the chest, but at the last moment Yu Cheng activated his third ring ability—a Scythe Whirl—that created a circular barrier of scythe energy around his body.

The force blew Qiang Ming back several meters. He tumbled but landed on his feet, his bloodied smile never fading.

The Rhino charged again. This time, his horns glowed with inner light, and from behind, the Serpent-Wire master formed a net of slashing threads meant to immobilize Qiang Ming while Yu Cheng prepared another heavy strike.

Three directions. One Qiang Ming.

He didn't blink.

He darted forward at the Rhino, leapt, and used the Rhino's head as a springboard, flipping over him entirely. Mid-flip, he brought his hammer around in a wide arc and slammed it into the Serpent-Wire boy's shoulder, breaking the bones and knocking him into the arena wall—out cold.

One down.

The Rhino pivoted to respond, his charge redirected mid-movement—a smart adjustment for a brute. But Qiang Ming didn't meet him. Instead, he reached with both Lich's Hands and grabbed the Rhino's horns. With a beastlike growl, he yanked the boy's skull downward and simultaneously drove his knee into his face.

Cartilage shattered.

The Rhino's massive body slumped as he was eliminated in a flash of light.

Two down.

Only Yu Cheng remained.

Qiang Ming's shoulder was still bleeding, his left side coated in red. He panted slightly, but his eyes gleamed with delight.

"Just you and me now, Scythe-boy," he said, cracking his neck.

Yu Cheng wiped the blood from his broken nose and held his scythe with two hands now. "You're insane."

Qiang Ming's smile sharpened. "No. I'm thorough."

They rushed each other.

The ground between them cracked as they closed in. Yu Cheng was faster—his movements enhanced by footwork techniques and a subtle third-ring acceleration—but Qiang Ming had timing.

He brought his hammer around, a slow, telegraphed swing—and Yu Cheng took the bait.

He ducked low, slicing forward to disarm—

—and that's when Qiang Ming let go of the hammer.

Yu Cheng's eyes widened as the hammer flew from Qiang Ming's hands and tumbled to the ground with a loud, dull clang. He blinked—he couldn't stop himself.

Was that an accident?

Then he realized: his own grip on the scythe had loosened. A subtle twist of the Lich's Hands had unbalanced him, and now his fingers were slack—his scythe was out of position.

Before he could react, two real hands seized his throat.

Qiang Ming's face was inches away.

"No more playing."

And then—

CRACK!

Qiang Ming's hands clenched with all his strength, Yu Cheng's spine held for a moment but then broke.

Yu Cheng twitched violently, his mouth open in a silent scream as if a powerful overload tore through him. Just as he was about to collapse—

He turned into a burst of light.

Three down.

Qiang Ming let out a slow breath, his body still sparking with residual static.

He rolled his neck, shook the blood from his hands, and calmly walked over to where his hammer had fallen. He picked it up with the reverence of a warrior reuniting with his oldest friend.

Then he turned to the final five—Class 0 and Wu Ziduo.

They were watching from across the arena. Tension hung in the air like a stormcloud.

Qiang Ming smirked.

"What now?"